In conventional film/screen radiography, the radiology procedure can follow the following scenario. 1. A requisition is filled out by a radiologist (or other health care professional) ordering a specific x-ray exam to be performed on a patient. The requisition is sent to the radiology department. 2. A technologist takes the requisition, one or more x-ray film cassettes, and positions the patient at an x-ray source. 3. The technologist performs the exam and the x-ray film(s) is exposed to x-rays which have been projected through a body part(s) of the patient. 4. The requisition is taped to the cassette and the exposed film is taken to a dark room to be developed. 5. At the darkroom a preprinted information card is flashed on to the film. Such information includes the patient name, patient ID number, patient birth date, health care facility name, current time and date, etc. 6. The film is processed and the technologist verifies that a good image has been recorded. 7. A sticker is applied to the film which records the date, time of exposure, exposure technique (kilovolts, milliamps, distance). 8. The finished x-ray film(s) are placed on a light box for review and diagnosis by a radiologist or physician.
Because of the inherent disadvantages of conventional radiography (as outlined above) in the acquisition, storage and transmission of patient x-ray images, a digital storage phosphor radiography system has come into use. In such a system, a storage phosphor contained in a cassette, is exposed to an x-ray image of a body part of a patient in the same manner as in conventional film-screen radiography. The exposed storage phosphor is read out in a storage phosphor reader to produce a digital x-ray image of the patient's body part. The digital x-ray image can then be processed to improve the image, displayed at a high resolution display station for review and diagnosis by a radiologist, transmitted to a remote location for display, stored in image storage, or sent to a radiographic printer for reproduction in visual form on film.
As with film-based radiography, storage phosphor radiography requires the matching of an x-ray image with a patient. In one known storage phosphor radiography system, patient information is entered into a workstation and is transferred to a magnetic card (See: U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,242, issued Feb. 3, 1987, inventor Kimura). After an exposure on a storage phosphor is made, a technologist places the cassette containing the exposed storage phosphor in a reader and transfers the corresponding patient information into the reader by swiping the patient's magnetic card through an associated magnetic card reader. Problems arise from double entry of patient information where such information has already been entered in a hospital information system when the patient entered the hospital, and from maintaining proper ordering of the storage phosphor cassettes and the patient information.
In another known storage phosphor radiography system (U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,355, issued May 23, 1995, inventor Weil), a hand-held bar code scanner is used to scan into the scanner bar code information relating to storage phosphor ID, patient ID, technologist ID, exam data, exposure technique, etc. The scanned information is then transferred to the storage phosphor reader at a bar code scanner download station located at the reader. Although this system is useful for the purposes for which it was intended, it would be desirable for the technologist not to have to carry a hand-held bar code scanner along with the storage phosphor cassettes, which can be quite bulky and heavy. Moreover, downloading of the information at a storage phosphor reader can be time consuming, where other technologists may be lined up wanting to do the same thing. It would also be desirable to reduce the amount of information that a technologist must enter for each cassette, if some of such information already exists in a HIS/RIS (Hospital Information System/Radiology Information System) that is accessible over a network.